Nori Brandyfoot (Markella Kavenagh) bids farewell to her Harfoot friend Poppy Proudfellow (Megan Richards)

The humans that remained in Rhûn became known as Easterlings, and were loyal followers of Morgoth and then Sauron during both of his rises to power. In the Third Age, factions of the Easterlings known as the Wainriders and the Balchoth launched many attacks on Gondor and the humans of the west in the name of Sauron, spreading his terror wherever they went.

After falling at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men at the end of the Second Age, Sauron fled to Rhûn to recover and regain his strength. Given Rhûn’s proximity to Mordor, and the region’s hatred of the west, it makes sense that Sauron would choose this land to plot his Third Age return. During the Third Age, three wizards traveled to Rhûn in search of Sauron – Saruman, Alatar, and Pallando. Alatar and Pallando, who became known as the Blue Wizards, stayed behind in Rhûn after Saruman went back west in order to convince the people there to resist Sauron’s rule and influence. J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t write much on these Blue Wizards, but looking at what we know about Sauron’s third rise to power in the Lord of the Rings books and movies, it’s safe to assume they weren’t that successful.

Tolkien didn’t provide much backstory on Rhûn or its history, so unfortunately it’s hard to predict exactly what the Stranger and Nori will discover on their journey there. But the lack of explicit source material does give The Rings of Power plenty of room to expand on what we do know about the region. If the Stranger really is good, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll learn much about his origins there given the regions’ loyalty to darkness, but that doesn’t mean that his mission won’t uncover other mysteries and lore from the early days of Middle-earth.

You May Also Like

The Nice Guys Ending Is Darker Than You Realize

So at the end of the movie, March and Healy have reasons…

House of the Dragon Deleted Scenes That Would Have Changed Daemon

Before Uncle Daemon shacked up with Rhae, he was unhappily married to…

From Sandi Furness to Nan Pierce: Logan Roy’s Fiercest Competitors on Succession

Sandi Furness (Hope Davis) Sandi is the daughter of Logan’s bitter rival,…

Edgar Allan Poe’s Haunting Cycle of Vincent Price Films

The Haunted Palace (1963) Corman and AIP really stretched the Poe connection…